HOY, Donald S.
Served an ensign in the US Naval Reserve during World War II. He was aboard the freighter Puerto Rican,
which was part of the Arctic Convoy when it was torpedoed and sunk off Murmansk on March 9, 1943.
His body was lost at sea and not recovered. This marker and the veteran's plaque commemorates his service. (Contributed by Alice Horner & Ben Woessner)
Headstone in Memory at Brethren Cemetery, Shannon IL
HUNGERFORD, Pfc Vaughn E.
For heroism performed in acton against the Japs in Northern Luzon, Pfc. Vaughn E. Hungerford, of Mt. Carroll, son of M. J. Hungerford of Moline, has been awarded the Bronze Star medal by Major Gen. P. W. Clarkson, commanding general of the 33rd infantry division. Pfc. Hungerford, a graduate of Mt. Carroll high school, is a medical aid man for the Second battalion medics of the 136th Infantry and it was during the drive on Twin Peak hills, in the Luzon mountains, according to an official dispatch from the Philippines, that he went to the aid of a wounded man under intense sniper, machine gun and mortar fire. While under fire, the Mt. Carroll soldier administered blood plasma to one wounded man and brought him safely to the aid station. (Contributed by Karen Fyock - dated April 13, 1945)
KATZENBERGER, Donald W.
Corporal Donald W. Katzenberger, 22, an aerial engineer who met death when his parachute failed to open when he jumped from a twin-motored bomber that crashed in flames near Shreveport, La., in January.
He was the son of Christ Katzenberger, who resides near Mt. Carroll.
Contributed by Karen Fyock
KAUFFMAN, Harold C.
USMC Staff Sgt. Entered September 24, 1942, discharged October 10, 1945.
Served overseas in South Pacific. Received Expert Rifleman, 4 Battle Stars - namely
New Georgia Operations, Consolidations of Solomons, Treasury Bougainville Operations, and Bismark Archipelago Operations.
KELLY, Robert L.
Reported missing in action since December 21 in Belgium is T/4 Sgt. Robert L. Kelly, son of Mr. and Mrs. Lyman J. Kelly of Savanna. He was with the 106th Division, 81st Engineers, and had been overseas since October 1944.
Alice Horner's Note: A subsequent article in the April 25, 1945 edition of the Freeport Journal Standard staes that he was a prisoner of war. He survived the war and returned to live in Savanna, Illinois. He died in January 1994.
KENGSINGER, Sgt. Stanton
Carroll Youth is Reported Killed in Italy::: Mt. Carroll, Ill., Dec. 6 - Sgt. Stanton Kensinger, 27, of Mt. Carroll, has been reported by the war department as having been killed in acton in Italy on November 8. This word was received here this morning by his aunt, Mrs. George Paul, from Sergeant Kensinger's wife, Mrs. Winifred Kensinger, a former student at Frances Shimer college at Mt. Carroll, who is living wih her parents at Ellsworth. Kensinger, who entered military service in February 1941, is believed to have been the first Mt. Carroll youth killed in action. He was born at Beloit, Wisconsin, February 1, 1915, the son of Elmer and Minnie Kensinger, and when he was a boy came with his parents to Mt. Carroll. He was a popular young man while in school, having been active in football and basketball. Following his entry into the military service he served with the Rangers at Casablanca, North Africa, in Sicily and in Italy. Before entering the service he was a clerk in a Mt. Carroll store. He leaves his widow, the former MIss Winnifred Kreitzer, his mother, Mrs. Minnie Kensinger, of DeKalb, two brothers, Gerald, in the U. S. navy, Milburne, of DeKalb and one sister, Mrs. Robert Larsen, also of DeKalb. (Contributed by Karen Fyock - Freeport Journal Standard December 6, 1943)
KRAMER, Ralph William
U.S. Navy
LAMBERT, John George
Pvt. John George Lambert, 19, is in a govt. hospital somewhere in the southwest Pacific area, with a foot injury suffered when a shell exploded, according to his mother, Mrs. Emma Lambert, and his sister Miss Ida Lambert, residing in Chestnut Park. Letters received Monday and Wednesday by his mother and sister are to the effect that he is getting along as well as can be expected.
Pvt. Lambert has been in service for eight months and overseas for the past three months. Before his armed services, he was employed at the SOD (Savanna Ordnance Depot).
Contributed by Alice Horner Daily Times Journal, Savanna, Illinois March 16, 1944
MILES, Sgt. Theodore
, 21, was liberated on April 13 from a German prisoner of war camp, according to a telegram which his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Nathaniel Miles, received Saturday night from the war department. Sgt, miles was reported missing in action on Dec. 16 in Germany. Later, in a postal card, he informed his parents that he had been taken prisoner. He had been overseas since last October and was with the 106th infantry division. (Contributed by Karen Fyock May 7, 1945 clipping)
MILLER, Arlyn J
Attained the rank of Sgt. and later spent 22 years in the reserves.
MITCHELL, Robert Dale
served in the United States Navy during World War II during the South Pacific campaign. He also played a musical instrument in the United States Navy Band.
POFFENBERGER, Glenn
Torpedoman Striker Glenn Poffenberger , S 1/c, son of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Poffenberger, is home on leave after 22 busy and exciting months aboard a destroyer in the south Pacific. Seaman Poffenberger, a star guard three years on the Mt. Carroll high school football team, entered service in March 1943. He wears six battle stars, one designating the sinking of a submarine, one for action at Leyte and four for the landings and shelling of beachheads. In two "now it can be told" letters issued by the commanding officer, Commander D. Richard Stephan, some of the action in which Seaman Poffenberger participated can be learned. In a letter dated March 5 of this year it is revealed that for the Guam operations " we started shooting a couple of days before the arrival of the amphibious forces and remained there until the marines were well entrenched and the Japs obliterated. For our continued gunfire support the ship was commended for its effective services." The ship next mission was to screen the attack transports en route to the Palau amphibious operation and while at Palau the destroyer joined the screen of the escort carriers and was in on the seizure of Ulithi. The letter reveals further that "the days of October found us still with the CVEs and the eventful day off Leyre, Oct. 25, when CVEs and their escorts, ourselves included, stopped and dispelled the Japanese battle ship and cruiser task force that came through San Bernardino Straits. We did have a tense couple of hours while within range of the Japanese ships. Fortunately no damage fell our lot." After the Leyte operation, the commander tells that his ship and crew were promoted to the first team. "What an aggregation," he writes. This assignment took the destroyer to the coast of Indo-China, off Hong Kong and Formosa, within striking distance of Japan proper. Three of the crew received bronze star awards for swimming to the rescue of aviators, during the night of in cold water. A later letter dated march 22, tells of the good Christmas dinner served crew members while the ship was with one of the advanced fleet anchorages and that 60 bags of Christmas mail were received. "The opportunities for recreation out here are most limited,: the letter reads, "but once in awhile we do get a chance for a swim at a sandy beach, a few cans of beer and a steak grilled over an open fire to each man's choice.: The commander goes on to tell that the destroyer was with Admiral Halstey's fast carriers on early January strikes in support of the landings on Luzon. The appearance of the enemy was limited to seeing several Jap planes dive into the water well aflame. "What cheers they get as they splash." The letter reveals that Seaman Poffenberg's ship was in the middle of the typhoon that caused the loss of a couple of ships. In February the destroyer escorted under Admiral Mitscher's command the fast carriers on strikes to the Tokyo Bay area, and the commander comments,"Can you imagine the Japanese fleet ever being able to serenely cruise around 100 miles off the Golden Gate?" Remarking on the Jap military man, the letter says, "We have recently seen that Japs don't always want to die for their emperor, particularly if their ship or plane has just been shot out from under them at sea."
Contributed by Karen Fyock - May 11, 1945 clipping
POTTER, Eugene G. - Navy World War II. Worked at the Savanna Army Depot until retirement in 1975
ROSENBERRY, Orval
Son of Mr. and Mrs. Ben Rosenberry south of Chadwick. Missing in action at Pearl Harbor.
SANDROCK, Lieut. Orville
- son of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Sandrock of Thomas
SARBER, Joseph Alibert
U.S. Army. Born January 1, 1915 - Died June 25, 1971 the son of John E. and Sarah (Smith) Keckler Sarber. He is buried at South Elkhorn Cemetery, Carroll Co. IL.
SCHOEFFLER, Frances Elizabeth
Miss Frances Elizabeth Schoeffler, a graduate of St. John's Hospital Fargo, N. D., and supervisor of the pediatric department at the hospital in Fullerton, Calif., for two years, has enlisted her services as a nurse in the army and began her active duties at the Savanna Ordnance hospital today.
Miss Schoeffler has a twin brother, Franklin, who has been in the service since February 1942, and has been stationed at Guadalcanal since last fall.
Since the death of her parents she has been staying with her aunt, Mrs. Anna Stevens, in Shannon, and is the first army nurse to enlist from this community.
Contributed by Karen Fyock
SMITH, Paul
believed to be brother of Jack Smith of Crystal Lake,
Illinois. Possible family origin in Centralia, Illinois. Killed in Action in France, no other information known
Contributed by his great-nephew Bret J. Smith Wayne Illinois
TEETS, Ensign Irene (WAVE)
- Daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George B. Teets of Milledgeville
THORNGREN, Roger D.
Milledgeville, Carroll Co Flight Officer Roger D. Thorngren, son of Mr. and Mrs. R.G. Thorngren of Milledgeville, bombardier of a Flying Fortress of the 95th bombardment group, has been awarded the Air Medal for "meritorious achievement" while participating in Eighth Air Force bombing attacks on vital industrial targets in Germany, and on Nazi airfields, supply dumps and gun emplacements in conjunction with advances by allied ground forces on the continent.
F/O Thorngren is a member of the Fortress group which has received two Distinguished Unit citations. One was for loading the first American bombing attack on targets in Berlin in March, 1944; the other , for outstanding bombing of a railroad marshalling yard at Munster, Germany, in October, 1943. As a component of the Third Air Division, the 95th also shared in another Distinguished Unit citation given the entire division for its historic England-Africa shuttle bombing of an important Messerschmitt fighter plane plant at Regensburg, Germany, in August, 1943. While flying more than 300 combat missions, the 95th dropped over 17,000 tons of bombs on Germany and German-held targets.
The bombardier's wife, Mrs. Carol W. Thorngren, lives on Route 3, Sterling. She is the former Carol Peugh.
Word from him indicates that he will be enroute home soon.
Sterling Gazette Jun 1945
WILKINSON, Keith
Back from the south Pacific for a well deserved rest is Pfc. Keith Wilkinson, son of Earl Wilkinson of this city. (Mt. Carroll) After a furlough here he will report May 28 to a rest camp in Florida and then receive a reassignment. Pfc. Wilkinson went to Hawaii in November, 1940, and was stationed at Scofield Barracks when the Jap sneak attack was launched Dec. 7, 1941. He escaped without a scratch and since then has been in the thick of the fighting against the Japs. From Hawaii he went to Guadalcanal, the the Vella La Vella, New Zealand, New Caledonia and Luzon. He wears five battle stars.
Contributed by Karen Fyock - May 9, 1945 clipping
WOODIN, Robert M.
Private Robert Woodin, Milledgeville, has been awarded the Bronze Star medal for heroic achievement. The citation accompanying the medal says in part:
"Robert M. Woodin, private first class, armored headquarters company 46th tank battalion, for heroic achievement in connection with military operations against an enemy of the United States on April 17, 1945, in the vicinity of Mudlinghoven, Germany. Pfc. Woodin, scout, without exact knowledge of the enemy's location, advanced over terrain made virtually impassable by intense enemy mortar 88 mm. flak,heavy machine gun and small arms fire. Through speed and daring, he contributed greatly to the success of hisunit in surprising the enemy, overcoming resistence and capturing the Germans' headquarters, including two major generals, their staff and650 troops. Entered the service from Milledgeville".
The citation is signed by John Millikin, Major general, U.S. Army commanding. Pft Woodin is the son of Mrs. Grace Woodin of Milledgeville. He is 23 years of age and a graduate of the Milledgeville high school.
Newspaper Article - no date noted , but a few days after Pearl Harbor
WOODIN, Robert M.
Pfc. Robert M. Woodin of Milledgeville has been awarded the Bronze Star medal
for heroic achievement. The citation accompanying the medal says in part:
"Robert M. Woodin, private first class, armored headquarters company 46th tank
battalion, for heroic achievement in connection with military operations against
an enemy of the United States on April 17, 1945, in the vicinity of Mudlinghoven,
Germany. Pfc. Woodin, scout, without exact knowledge of the enemy's location,
advanced over terrain made virtually impassable by intense enemy mortar 88 mm.
flak,heavy machine gun and small arms fire. Through speed and daring, he contributed
greatly to the success of his unit in surprising the enemy, overcoming resistence and
capturing the Germans' headquarters, including two major generals, their staff
and 650 troops. Entered the service from Milledgeville".
The citation is signed by John Millikin, Major general, U.S. Army commanding.
Pft Woodin is the son of Mrs. Grace Woodin of Milledgeville. He is 23 years
of age and a graduate of the Milledgeville high school.
***Newspaper Scrapbook Clippings - Date Unknown
ZUBATY, John B.
United States Army, 311th Engineering Co.
enlisted February 5, 1945
and discharged May 12, 1946 and was with the 19th US Naval Construction Batallion
Maintenance Unit in Okinawa, as a Sea Bee. He also served in the Army in Korea
in the First Chemical Mortar Batalion. John was born 14 October 1925 the son of
Bert Gordon Buckwalter & Hazel Mae Yenney, he grew up on the family farm in
Woodland Twp. Carroll Co IL. John and his wife Joyce were married in a candlelight
ceremony at the Savanna Methodist Church performed by Rev Stanley A. Beck on 18 August 1851.
Attendants were Franklin "Cy" Yenney, the groom's cousin and Clara Reibel, the groom's sister.
Joyce was born 26 April 1932 in Milwaukee WI the daughter of Hilbert Marx and Vivienne Dubois
John worked for the Milwaukee Road in Savanna IL. which was bought out by the Soo Railroad. He retired
after 30 years with the Soo in Bensonville, Il., where he was transfered for his final years.
He kept an apartment in Elmhurst, Illinois during the years he worked in Bensonville and maintained
his home in Savanna, Illinois as well. Upon retirement in 1987, he and Joyce
moved from Savanna to Mountlake Terrace, WA. Their children are John William
Buckwalter Jr. born 6 October 1952 Augusta, Richmond Co., Georgia; Lori Ann Buckwalter Gilbert
born 29 November 1953 Augusta, Richmond Co., Georgia & Brad Alan Buckwalter born
24 December 1959 Savanna, Carroll Co., Illinois. John died 9 October 2001 in Bothell, King Co WA
Wilbur arrived Fort Lewis, Washington on Dec 42 for Basic Training and went to Camp Young, Calif. 13 Apr 43 for the IX Corps Desert Training Center No. 8 California Maneuvers; staged at Camp Stoneman, Calif. (Mojave Desert) 24 Jun 43 until departure from San Francisco port of embarkation on 7 Jul 43 on the ship "Republic" operated by Merchant Marine crew.
The division arrived in Hawaii 12 Jul 43 and was assigned to defend the outer island 18 Jul 43 in conjunction with jungle warfare training. It moved to Finschhafen, New Guinea, on 11 May 44 and engaged in additional jungle and amphibious training, detaching the 123rd Infantry to Maffin Bay, New Guinea, on 1 Sep 44 where it relieved the 31st Infantry Division and patrolled the Wakde airdrome and Toem-Sarmi sector until 26 Jan 45.
The remainder of the division moved to Morotai Island 18 Dec 44 and landed on its west coast without opposition. From 22 Dec 44--29 Jan 45 it relieved 31st Infantry Division forces garrisoning Race Island and Wajaboela as well as reducing Japanese forces at the headwaters of the Pilowo River on Morotai. It then staged for operations in the Philippines.
The division arrived in Lingayen Gulf and landed on Luzon 10 Feb 45, relieved the 43rd Infantry Division in the Darmortis-Rosario-Pozorrubio area 15 Feb 45, and took over its zone of action. On 19 Feb 45 the division began its drive into the Caraballo Mountains toward its objective of Baguio, the summer capital of the Philippines and the Japanese headquarters. The division seized Questionmark and Benchmark Hills* after heavy fighting 22 Feb 45, and after battling entrenched Japanese in the hills, the 130th Infantry took Aringay and its bridge 7 Mar 45 without opposition and went on to capture Mt. Magabang the following day. The 136th Infantry maintained pressure as it advanced along Kennon Road and the 123rd Infantry patrolled northeast of Pugo. A division task force composed of a battalion from the 130th Infantry linked up with Filipino guerrillas of northern Luzon in the vicinity of San Fernando on 21 Mar 45, the Japanese had already withdrawn. The attached 129th Infantry (from 37th Infantry Division) pushed up Highway 9 toward Baguio and encountered very heavy fighting in the Salat area 23 Mar--10 Apr 45. The 123rd Infantry took Mt. Calungong on 8 Apr 45 and pushed beyond Galiono on the Pugo-Baguio Trail.
The 130th Infantry captured Asin on 12 Apr 45 but further advance halted by a Japanese tunnel complex nearby. Ground assault of the Asin Tunnels was suspended 15 Apr 45 while artillery bombardment was employed to soften up the strongpoint. The 130th Infantry renewed its attacks 21 Apr 45 and resorted to reducing the tunnel lines one after the other in close combat. In the meantime the 1234d Infantry pushed slowly up the Puga-Tuba Trail and arrived in Tuba on 25 Apr 45. On the same day the 130th Infantry trucked into positions, began the assault on the hills surrounding Baguio and took Mt. Mirador. The Battle for Baguio ended 27 Apr 45 as both 33rd and 37th Infantry Division columns converged and overran the city.
The Division then relieved the 37th Infantry Division on 4 May 45 and was given the mission of clearing northward from Baguio to break up remaining pockets of resistance. With the capture completed of the San Nicolas-Tebbo-Itogon route on 12 May 45, organized opposition collapsed. Forces advancing on Highway 11 occupied Tabio and Ambuclac on 13 Jun 45, and the area was secured after the fall of Bokod 17 Jun 45. The Daklan area was secured after Daklan Airstrip was captured by the division on 22 Jun 45. The division was relieved in the Baguio general area by the 32nd Infantry Division on 30 Jun 45, and moved to Bauang for rehabilitation. The division was engaged in amphibious training in the Philippines when the war ended.
The division arrived in Japan 24 Sep 45 for occupation duties and inactivated there on 4 Feb 46.
Wilbur then went back to Fort Lewis Washington for discharge procedures. He was officially discharged from Fort Sheridan - north of Chicago.
GILBERT Sr., Walter William